


It Could've Been Great

by astraltrashcan



Category: MCSM, Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft: Story Mode - Fandom
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Angst, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Friends to Enemies, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, MCSM - Freeform, Minecraft, Minecraft: Story Mode, No Romance, Nonbinary Character, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Spoilers, Swearing, because I said so, for order up!, jesse is nb and uses they/them, lots of reflecting on the past both in canon and from my headcanons, mc:sm - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:34:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22258045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraltrashcan/pseuds/astraltrashcan
Summary: Aiden didn't really remember how or why The Blaze Rods were formed. The only thing he knew was that Jesse stole his friend and he was gonna get him back, whenever Lukas liked it or not.a.k.a.Rewriting episode 5 of season 1 because I started thinking about how much more emotional and investing the story would be if Aiden's motivation wasn't fame, but rather spite for having his best friend 'stolen' from him.
Relationships: Jesse & Lukas (Minecraft), Lukas & Aiden (Minecraft), Lukas & Petra (Minecraft)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	It Could've Been Great

**Author's Note:**

> Headcanons Time:  
> 1\. Jesse is nonbinary and uses them/they pronouns. I just like this headcanon and I think it's easier to write them this way than to choose between male and female options available. That being said, y’all are free to imagine Jesse however you want, I'm personally thinking of them as the red hair clip/turquoise shirt model, because that's the Jesse I played as.  
> 2\. Jesse's chosen weapon in episode 4 was an axe and they keep it for their adventures. Again, that's something I adapted from my playthrough of the game.

Jesse could still feel the heat from under the stone floor after it closed, as they laid on it, trying to catch their breath. Their axe felt heavy in their hands, but it felt _right_ , like it belonged there, like it was the only place it should ever be in. It was the same axe they’ve crafted in The Far Lands, the same axe enchanted to be able to destroy the indestructible command block. Even with all the treasures the new Order of the Stone has found, that old glimmering weapon was the most valuable of them all, to Jesse at the very least. For a second they thought they wouldn’t be able to get it out from the stone trap, not only forcing them to leave it behind but also to face the flames and the giant cave spiders, now separated from the gang by smooth stone. They knew very well that the fire was still there, licking at the walls and burning any remaining mobs, if any were left at all. The temple proved to be more dangerous than they expected.

„Is everyone okay?” Jesse called out into the dark room, lit poorly only by the lava lazily streaming from the walls.

„That was _Awesome_!” Axel shouted triumphantly with his hands in the air. His helmet seemed to be a little burnt, with a few dark strokes here and there.

“And very dangerous.” Olivia was still putting out her ponytails, which seemed to be smoking. “Why did it have to be cave spiders? I hate those the most.”

“Well, everyone is okay and I’d say all that trouble was worth all the sweet loot we found down there” Petra chimed in, extending her hand to Jesse and helping them stand up. “Do you still have that fancy flint and steel?”

Jesse dusted themself off and reached into their pocket, where they’ve shoved their find as they were climbing up the stairs. As soon as their fingers touched the item they felt that weird sensation again. How come something that’s supposed to spark flames, is so cold to the touch? It almost felt otherworldly. They took it out and grinned, holding it up proudly.

“Still got it!”

The gang once again gathered around Jesse to take a better look at the strange object. It’s light blue glow filled the room.

“I wonder what sort of enchantment is that” Olivia spoke curiously and carefully. “I know it’s your find, but could I get a better look at it and try to figure it out?”

“Yeah, of course!” Jesse was fiddling with the flint and steel in their hand. “We can all get a better look once we’re back home, safe and definitely not on fire.”

“But where’s the fun in That?” Axel whined.

“You can also eat that cake of yours while we check it out” Jesse gave him a knowing smile.

“Oh I’m _waaaay_ ahead of you” he said, already heading towards the entrance of the temple and the while group followed.

Jesse got one last good look at the temple before leaving and as they exited the stifling room a cool breeze hit their skin. They took a long, deep breath, enjoying the once again fresh air. Petra was stretching as she walked down the temple’s stairs while Axel and Olivia were already friendly bickering all the way down. It was an almost perfect night, Jesse thought to themself.

_Almost._

It could be actually perfect if only Lukas was there with them all too. Adventuring without him felt like there was always someone missing in the team. Jesse felt like that all the way back, ever since the Witherstorm was defeated. Lukas rarely would come with them to any adventures, even though he was a member of the Order himself. Did he doubt his place in it? He’s as much a part of the team as Jesse is. They’ve decided to talk to him about it later.

“Jesse!”

They blinked and snapped out of their thoughts as they looked ahead to where Axel was calling out to them from. He seemed excited which could only mean one thing – trouble, the good sort.

“Olivia here and I were discussing that you should try your new flint and steel out on something to test if the enchantment works, you know, on the flames-” he spoke as Olivia rolled her eyes.

“Axel just wants you to burn something.”

“And to burn something, yes, I was just getting to the good part, Olivia, _Geez_.”

“A little fire never killed anybody” Petra said innocently, clearly on Axel’s side.

They took out the flint and steel once again as a smile was arising on their face.

“To be honest I kind of wanted to burn something with it since I saw it.”

“I’m living with pyromaniacs. Unbelievable.” Olivia shook her head in disappointment.

“Awww c’mon, everyone loves a little bit of arson!”

Olivia sighed. “ _Fiiiine_ , but only because I’m curious about how it works. And I _Beg_ of you, never come close to our treehouse with it”

“Promise!” Jesse said in excitement, as they set their sights on a stump nearby. It was a perfect target. They walked up to it while carefully holding the flint and steel. It felt so alien in their hands, like nothing they’ve ever touched before. Sometimes you have this feeling deep down, that everything is about to change, and its new and overwhelming, but also very intriguing – that’s how holding this weird treasure felt.

“Witness me!” Jesse called out to the rest of the group as they sparked a flame. They thought that it’ll just be a different color or would burn longer. What they didn’t expect was for the flame to rise a few blocks into the air Immediately after lighting it. They jumped back in surprise and watched the blue flame consume the wood completely in a matter of seconds. Everyone was silent for a good moment.

“ ** _Holy fuck_** ” Petra commented and whistled, watching the scorched wood turn into coal.

“ _That Was The Coolest Thing I’ve Seen This Week_!” Axel was basically beaming. “Can we burn _more_ stuff?”

“Absolutely not. That thing is too strong to play around with in a forest” Olivia said in such a tone everyone knew that there was no discussion to be had.

“Yeah, I think I have to agree with Olivia on tha-“

“And what do we have there?” said a familiar voice.

Jesse turned to where it was coming from and saw Aiden, Gill and Maya creeping nearby the temple. Aiden was nonchalantly leaning against it with his back, as if he was there all along.

“Oh, just great, it’s _them_.” Olivia crossed her arms.

Petra stayed weirdly silent, her gaze focused on Aiden. Jesse tightened their grip on the enchanted flint and stone. They didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“Look, gang, it’s The Order of the Losers again!” Maya smirked as Gill giggled at her comment.

Axel frowned. “It wasn’t even funny.”

“Can we help you with anything?” Olivia asked in a state-of-matter kind of way, she wasn’t having any of it.

Aiden seemed… surprised? He was clearly looking for something. Or someone. He stood up straight, with a slight frown on his face, it seemed like he wasn’t happy about whatever his deal was. It all felt weird.

“Ha! As if The Blaze Rods would need any help from the likes of you!” Gill said and high-fived Maya. This was getting embarrassing.

“Blaze Rods?” Jesse raised their eyebrow. “Wasn’t your name the Ocelots?”

Aiden hesitated for just a second before he turned his piercing gaze to them. “That was our name when we were still Lukas’ team” he crosses his arms on his chest. “But since he ditched us for you, we changed up some rules and made our own gang.” He acted like he didn’t care, but his words were full of spite and venom.

Maya turned around and showed the Order the insignia on her jacket – two crossed blaze rods. “We don’t need that loser anyways!”

That was Petra’s breaking point. She took a step towards them, clearly frustrated. “What the fuck is your problem, guys?”

Jesse held their hand out in front of her, as if to stop her from full on charging at the Blaze Rods. They knew just how much Petra valued her friendship with Lukas and wouldn’t be surprised if she got into a fight because of it. That’s just the kind of person she was and Jesse honestly admired that, but getting into a fight right now just wasn’t worth it.

Aiden tensed up as Petra took that one step, with a hand loosely resting on the handle of his sword. He was careful; his eyes never left Petra and Jesse.

“You know, Lukas is a hero.” Jesse spoke calmly, giving the Blaze Rods a stern look. “He saved the world. He wanted to save _You_ the most.”

Aiden looked away as he spoke, avoiding both their stare and the subject. “Speaking of which where is the mighty Lukas himself? Isn’t he one of you now?”

“Of course he is!” Petra immediately responded. If looks could kill, Petra’s glare at the trio would have slaughtered them a long while ago. “For all your nasty talk about him, you sure sound like you care a lot.”

This seemed to throw Aiden off guard, as he looked at her with eyes wide open. As quickly as that shock arrived thought, he immediately regained his composure. His eyes drifted away from the gang.

“As if. Anyways.“ He said, shifting his tone into a more confident one. “That thing you have there?” He pointed at the enchanted flint and steel. “It belongs to The Rods.”

Jesse frowned and instinctively shoved the item into their pocket. “Uh, last time I checked we were the ones who found it?”

“Yeah, go find your own treasure you losers!” Axel called.

Aiden’s face twisted in disgust. “That’s the thing with you.” He spoke, his hand now tightly grabbing the handle of his sword as he took a few steps closer to the group, his piercing emerald eyes never leaving Jesse. “You just take and take, without any regards of others’ feelings!” Maya and Gill cheered enthusiastically, as if to encourage him to go on. “It’s because you don’t care, do you? You’re just a bunch of greedy bastards, who can’t Stand the thought of sharing or- or just leaving people alone!”

Jesse wasn’t sure whether this all was still just about treasure hunting, but they didn’t back down as Aiden kept slowly approaching them. the whole group tensed up and gathered closer around them.

“You’re just so _Selfish_. Why does everything has to always be yours? _Why does everyone have to Love you so much?_ ” The words he spoke felt like venom in his mouth. He took a deep breath before he added “You already have _So Much_ , wouldn’t it be considerate to share?”

And with that he was getting uncomfortably close to Jesse. He slowly raised his sword to their throat. Axel reacted first. He stepped in front of them, a little confused about all this argument.

“Look dude, there are plenty of dungeons and temples, we were here f-“

“ _Shut_ ** _UP_** _!_ Out of my way!” Aiden cut in, screaming and pushed Axel away with so much force that their tall friend landed on the ground. That was It. Jesse instinctively drew out their axe, just as everyone else pulled out their weapons on both sides. Axel scrambled up back onto his feet and gave Aiden a nasty look.

“What _the fuck_ is your problem guys?!” Petra shouted, angrily squeezing her golden sword.

“This is going to stop now.” Jesse’s voice was cold and sharp. “It’s one thing to discuss things and another to assault one of us. Just leave.”

There was a flash of genuine fear in Aiden’s eyes, but it lasted for a mere second. Maya and Gill stood ready behind him, holding their weapons up as well, unsure about how the situation escalated. The Blaze Rods’ leader scoffed. “So what, now the mighty Order of the Stone will use violence against anyone who disagrees with their methods? Is that it?” He was clearly provoking the team, trying to rail them up and force them to do something stupid. But Jesse saw through that.

They slowly lowered down their weapon. “You know what? It’s simply not worth it. You won’t listen to what we have to say either way. Might as well not waste energy on you guys.” They turned around and looked at their team. “We are done here, let’s go home.”

Olivia and Axel looked at the Rods threateningly as they lowered their weapons, as if to say ‘don’t even _think_ about it’. Petra hesitated before having one look at Jesse and following on it as well. Surprisingly, the Rods also lowered their arms. Well, Maya and Gill did. Aiden looked as Jesse furiously as his grip on the sword tightened.

“You are no fucking heroes, throwing your weight around like this. One day he- _They All_ will see. I’ll make sure of that.” He said, angrily stabbing the ground with his weapon. “This isn’t over, assholes.”

“Yeah this isn’t ov-“ Gill repeated, only to be punched by Aiden midsentence.

The Order tensed up and Olivia let out a small gasp as they watched Gill take a few steps back, holding his face in pain, yet trying to laugh it off. It was.. a disturbing sight.

“ _Shut the **FUCK** up, Gill!_” Aiden snarled, walking past his teammates. “You better look out, Jesse.” He said under his breath, not looking at them.

Maya moved out of his way with fear in her eyes and grabbed onto Gill, who was still forcing a laugh. She shot the Order one last look and followed close behind Aiden as they all vanished in the jungle.

The order was at a loss of words after that display of violence and decided to head back home. No one seemed comfortable enough to talk about what they’ve just seen so they limited themselves to a small chit chat during the walk.

Jesse was quiet for most of it. Something was Seriously wrong with Aiden. Yes, he has always been a jerk, but only to his enemies – never to his own team. Or at least Jesse never saw him like that. To say they were concerned was an understatement. Something about Maya’s last glance and Gill’s forceful laugh told Jesse this wasn’t the first time this happened. And it probably won’t be the last. Why was he behaving like this? Was it really.. just about the treasure?

Petra’s hand on Jesse’s shoulder snapped them out of their thoughts. “Huh?”

She gave them a little concerned smile. “What are you thinking so hard about, J?”

Oh. they must’ve spaced out for a while because everyone’s eyes were pointed at them.

“Nothing, it’s just..” they rubbed their shoulder, looking away. “Thinking about what Aiden said to us. About taking all the treasures for ourselves."

Petra furrowed her brows. “Who cares about what that jerk thinks? The people in the city think we are good. We are their heroes.”

“I don’t know..” Olivia chimed in, unsure. “He does have a point.. we’ve been collecting a lot of cool stuff lately and others might get discouraged when they find empty chests on their adventures…”

“So what, are we just supposed to not have any reward for our escapades?” Axel challenged her, frowning.

“That’s not what I’m saying! Ugh.. What I mean is.. We’ve already had our big adventure. It might feel kind of unfair to rob people of their own possible ones..”

“ _Bullshit._ ” He commented. “Someone will take the treasure either way! People are always going to miss out on stuff if they’re late. That’s nothing new. We have as much of a right to collect the loot as any other adventurers.”

Petra rolled her eyes at their little argument and looked back at Jesse. “And what do _You_ think about it?” Axel and Olivia stopped their bickering to hear them out as well.

_Jeez._

“I’m not sure.. but one thing I am certain of is that Aiden is acting _weird_ and he’s starting to become a problem. I have a bad feeling about this.” They said, remembering the pure hatred in his eyes as he stared at them. The group fell silent, only nodding or quietly agreeing with Jesse. _Sigh._

_This was going to be a long journey back home._


End file.
